Rambling through the beautiful, biodynamic world of Joly
The team attend a lecture on Biodynamic viticulture hosted by Nicolas Joly in London on April 13th. We leave inspired! By Kate
Barely awake after finishing work at 11pm last night I nevertheless managed to get myself to the 20th Century Theatre in Notting Hill Gate by 9.30am this morning to hear Nicolas Joly talk on "Biodynamic Viticulture." I am so glad I did. After a few tough weeks I needed a powerful reminder of why we do what we do.
For the uninitiated, Mon Joly is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of the modern biodynamic viticulture movement inFrance
This shows how little those who supposedly know it all actually know it all. It has been a long time since I have heard anyone speak so lucidly, poetically, powerfully and truthfully on the subject. To cap it all his wines, tasted afterwards, were sublime. Pure, limpid, light; energy in a glass.
What follows then is as much of what I could get down coherently. I have decided to put almost all of it here which means it is a long, sometimes rambling - but entirely worthwhile - read. Please note that I think the creativity of Mon Joly extends to making up words and I have tried to reproduce these as he said them. They made sense to me – hopefully they will to you.
The sun has started shining. Read on and remind yourself of what being properly alive really means.
“Calling yourself a wine maker is an offence to nature and shows how little we understand. Man does not, should not make wine. The more I do this, the more I understand that all the work, everything, happens in the vineyard. Technology in the winery is only there for those who have not grown their grapes properly.
" It is now spring, which has arrived a bit late this year in Northern France . Not much is happening on the vines. But if you return to the same vine in four months time, you will see masses of branches and leaves. Tons of matter which does not exist today. Take the water away from this and call it dry matter. 94% of that is photosynthesis. Only 6% is matter drawn up by the soil. So what do you actually see? You see energy, light, heat. You can’t catch light and heat but here, light and heat have become matter. Light and heat are densified and incarnated into matter by forces which we MUST understand. If we don’t understand the system that creates this we will remain idiots to our death. This sadly, is modern farming.
" In 1977, someone came to me and said, 'Your mother did a good job in her vineyard, but you must be modern. You can achieve clean soil in a very simple way with weed killers.' "I ask, what is this clean soil anyway? Why should soil be clean? These poisons were not used till the mid 1970’s. What does a weed killer do? It kills the micro organisms of the soil. It destroys them. The problem is that a root cannot feed itself on the soil, without the assistance of the micro-organisms.
"It is like if I put plastic in your mouth and over your hands and then put good food in front of you.
"No-one was told about the side effects of weed killers. Side effects in farming are never addressed. When you go to the chemist to buy medicine, they tell you the side affects. Not in farming. So, they say that you are saving a lot of time – also saving money on labour etc. But after five to six years of weed killers, what happens? The vines are not growing anymore. They can no longer eat.
"Nature is very well done. The time will come when we will understand that nature is made of balance and fabulous subtleties. Look at different notes of music and how they fit together to form a melody. This is exactly the growth of nature. So basically, if you force a plant to take too much water, you destroy the balance and you get side effects. Disease like mildew and odium became much more powerful than before, so simple products like Sulphur Dioxide and Copper which worked before are no longer strong enough. Therefore a new and very efficient but very dangerous system arrived in the 80’s. Systemics.
"What is this? Formerly, people were using molecules of systemics which were very poisonous but which you would not eat as they were staying outside the vegetable, they could be washed away. Now, Systemics is 70 – 80% of the treatment done in the world today and these poisons go inside the sap. Technically fabulous – if it rains or if it doesn’t, you have protection against rot. But when you poison the sap, you destroy the system which permits the leaves to catch the climate and convert it into a specific taste. The link to the soil is destroyed, the link to the climate is weakened.
"Then you have no taste in your grapes. But you have 350 tastes in the winery. This is technology, they say. These tastes are allowed to be put into the wine through engineered yeast. Not a single magazine will raise the problem. Are wine journalists on the side of the readers or not? I think the consumer has the right to know if what he tastes is the terroir of the vineyard or the technology implemented in the cellar.
"We now have studies saying that for this country, at that price range, use this yeast which will give a specific range of flavours and you will be very successful. So the idea of appellations and terroir has been destroyed by technology. This happens not just with cheap wines but also with some very expensive wines.
"Some people want a true taste and others don’t care, as long as it tastes good to them. I would prefer that there is a back label that makes clear that the taste you are getting comes from a manufactured yeast. It does not come from the grape.
"Some people then decided to move to organic farming. With this, you reach the possibility for the vine to behave as it was behaving in the past. So why is biodynamic now becoming more popular than organic? "To understand this, we have to go two steps backward and understand things for which we have not been prepared. We don’t see life. We see the effects of life. If I put two cats on the table and one is dying and one is sleeping, you don’t see this. Life is not visible, so what is it?
"Life does not belong to the earth. If you put plastic all around the earth, it would die immediately. The earth is alive because it belongs to the solar system and we know that within this, all systems are communicating. How are they communicating? How does the sun reach us?
"It is pure energy, wave lengths and specific frequencies. This is life on earth. What have we been doing in the last 30, 40 years? By putting 5000 satellites around the earth we are filling the atmosphere with billions of frequencies and wave lengths which are distorting the systems which bring life to this planet. So, life is weakening. You do not have as many life forces as you had even 40, 50 years ago.
"Biodynamics does not work at the level of matter. We work a step before, at the energetical level. We bring the process of specific reactions or specific actions. We work like the needle in acupuncture. That is another system of communication that we don’t fully understand. Preparations (the various composts, herbal teas, etc. widely used in biodynamic farming), stimulate a process like that needle, so how much is not the issue – a few grams is fine.
"You should investigate the fabulous concept of what these preparations are. Between explaining and creating there is a huge difference and for real understanding, look further. Which animal was selected? Which organ? Why do we put this plant into that animal etc. It is a fabulously complex system of understanding life on earth.
"What do we do when we are in biodynamics? We are surrounded with two main forces. One main force is sun attraction. The other is gravity. Without this, there is no matter. Matter comes from gravity. Life and health and the good behaviour of a plant on earth are a balance between these forces. 'You have light and air and you have liquid. Air stays around the earth because it is slightly submitting to gravity, water submits more. Put heat on water and it becomes fog and disappears. Put cold on water and it becomes heavier. There is a specific terroir in grape growing; you put air, light, earth together. For 4000 years, people have been talking about those levels of matter, it is not a new idea.
"You can see the forces in play now – it is spring, a huge change, longer days, the sun forces are stronger than the earth forces. You could say the life on earth is delivered from gravitation at this time of year. Autumn is the reverse. The leaves are falling. Try to understand the upward and downward forces.
"What are the forces we have in ourselves? Understanding these leads to a deep understanding of medicine. In farming it is a little more simple
. "Heat forces lead to fruit. Light links to flowers. Liquid links to leaves and root forces to minerality. Then you come to the understanding of what is a vine. So many of those growing grapes have no idea. If you want to understand the vine you must understand the cypress. This is the opposite of a vine, it is an upward process. It goes up. Look at it (he showed a picture at this point): it wants the sun. The vine wants the earth. It has enormous strength in its roots. It can send them down, down. When you bring the rich earth to the vine, you interrupt this process. The vine must struggle, it must send its roots down. You must understand the action of the forces on the vine and how best it can show its deep nature.
"In the past architecture only dealt with the specific forces of every single spot. They did this with shapes. Each shape has a specific frequency and wave length which has specific forces. A crypt for example is a very heavy place. You wouldn’t sleep there. But go to another specific place, another shape, different forces and you sleep so well.
"Do you want your wine done in a barrel? Do you want your wine done in an amphora? When you understand forces you will understand how important these choices are. Also, if you want to understand disease, you must understand the forces.
"What is water? H20 apparently. But it is NOT. We have been told this, but that is not complete. What are the forces that selected those specific atoms? Why this system of sympathy and antipathy which results in H20? Why is it this and not something else?
"Life on earth is masses of information which comes from the cosmos. We know these frequencies and wave lengths but we don’t study the information carried by these. We don’t ask the questions. Everything is just there. We just don’t know. We are still in such a childish way that people don’t see what is truly responsible for life on earth. Genes are the first visible element of the system which created life on earth but most scientist say it is not only these genes but also something around them. A force we do not know.
"So biodynamics is just the understanding of the matrix of forces and of the stimulation of these forces. We don’t look any more. We don’t even see any more the shapes of leaves and flowers. Who is making these? Is it just luck? Big bang? Random? Biodynamics tries to work with the forces BEHIND all of this.
"When you have 5000 statellites around the earth, you destroy this balance and you call it progress. He showed pictures of leaves then, a rather clumsy, lumpen looking shape from a Chenin clone contrasted with a fantastically intricate, ace-shaped example. "Look at this lump of matter and then look at one which has circles – heat forces, triangles, missing matter. (He meant the natural gaps in the shape of the leaf). What are the forces which are shaping this matter? It means that something is here which is stopping matter. You should always look at the forces which are behind matter and which limit matter. Look at the behaviour.
"You must ask which animal fits your place? With each you get a different flavour process. The nature of the animal will affect the organic life of your vine through manure. The horse is dominated by heat so you don’t do it in the south – it is already too hot. Look at the pig – very interesting animal – look, everything is downward. A pig is strongly linked to the earth and gravity. So the manure of the pig will act on the roots. Not on the flower or on the taste
"A deep understanding of farming will lead to the realisation that it must return to the complex art of understanding all the forces that influence life. To be successful, you must have a profound understanding of the forces of life on earth. Heat. Light. Water. Matter. What the moon is doing. Everything.
"In biodynamics we create a vortex. Life comes on earth through a vortex. You have vortexes everywhere in ancient symbols and sacred architecture, showing the importance. All of the galaxies are a vortex. Everywhere around us, so much, we don’t see it anymore. We have not been trained to see. Vortexes moving from matter to energy and back again. "You should have within the product all the forces you need so that things behave properly. You must be a good farmer to reach the privilege of not doing anything in your cellar. If you are a wine maker you, then you are an idiot as a farmer.
"Basically, if the press had been honest about tastes being artificial, most wine growers would have been tempted to a deeper understanding of their place. This was not done and the side effect of that is that the tastes of influential people have been studied and they have found everything they liked and then many wines have been made that way.
"Someone came to me and said : 'I will come up with a wine which will get 100 points, your price will double and you will give me commission.' This happens often. This forces people to an artificial understanding. If you can bring the taste in the cellar, why bother with farming? "Why encourage the vine to fully be itself? After all, lower yields equal lower profitability, but you have the true taste. No-one cares today about the true taste any more."
(We care NJ! We care!!)
"Look at snowflakes. Look at the delicacy. Don’t look at the matter, look at the mould, the energetical forces that have ordered matter in that way."
Then it was question time and the first concerned sulphur.
“ There is always natural sulphur. If you ship your wine 6000 kms away and you are not sure that the right conditions will be respected, it is probably right to use this. Why do people fight this? In much natural medicine now, it is prescribed.
"But we don’t want sulphur from the oil industry, we want if from the earth, from volcanoes. All biodynamic wines tend to combine the free S02, within 12 hours, even if we put a large dose, so it looks like these wines are capable of defending themselves against excess S02
. "Is the wine made with ascorbic acid? This is worse than sulphur.
"My position is I would rather use a little bit of sulphur – more than the above three, but I respect other positions that do not agree."
Then onto Copper.
“The chemical industry has made an enemy of copper. Why? Because in small doses, this treats mildew very effectively, if the soil is balanced. If you make an enemy of this, you are forced to use other much more dangerous chemicals. The chemical industry want you to do this.
"A bit of copper is a plus in a soil, but too much is a problem. We are all breathing the air, in the air is 20% 0xygen. 40% would burn our lungs but that is no reason to forbid 0xygen in the air. Up to a certain level, copper in soil is a plus.
"So, copper is not bad. If your soil is alive, all the life of the soil treats copper exactly like old wood – it breaks it down. The life of the soil treats the copper naturally, if it doesn’t you have a problem. But good soil should be able to break it down.
"It takes time to get that secret balance of harmony. I think 10 years. But let us assume I do good biodynamics on a vineyard where I really should have planted beets. In spite of my knowledge, the wine won’t be great. The quality of the instrument is where you are – the music is the decision taken by the growers, the acoustic is the result”
Then it seemed to get slightly random, but still, good comments.
"A glass of biodynamic wine you can empty easily. It is tuned to life. It is tuned to you. It has no aggression. "A good glass of good technological wine you have to stop after three sips. There is aggression there. It is a completely different thing. Something else has to come, something new. But this is where we are now. Truth has become a market. A ‘truthful ‘product is now a market. How do we cope with all the people who will bring ‘truth’?
"The world of today is all about analysis. All the way to hell. The fabulous knowledge which understands nothing is absolutely unattractive. To give future young wine makers the chance to understand how to cope with the earth, how to cope with diseases, that is what we should be doing. Teach how to make wine without oak. There is so much oak it is shocking. Why don’t you buy oak, soak it in water and drink that?
"It is a new way of teaching and this could lead to a completely new way of training farmers. I hope it will come out well but honestly, I don’t know. We don’t eat matter, we eat forces. What you will retain are the forces, the matter you reject. This will feed you. Every 7 years you completely renew your cells, so bring the right forces and you will decrease the use of drugs. Everything comes back to this and we understand it so little.
"Most wine schools though are a disaster. Davis (a renowned school in California
"Bring life. With life you defend yourself better against disease. Understand the different preparations. You have to be very careful with these treatments. Understand the preparations and how to use them without side effects.
"Also, the belief of the person behind the thing is enormously important. Everyone talks of the placebo effect. Why are people disparaging of this? What is a placebo? It is the forces of your thinking. If you put 1 million people together thinking of the same topic, you have an enormous force. Wave lengths and frequencies again. How is this a bad thing?
"People with green fingers are recognized by science but it is not understood. Sometimes they are using chemicals but still making great wines. Because there was love behind it. If you raise your children in a cold way, they will be cold. The same with plants. With everything.
At this point, an American voice started talking from the back of the room. This gentlemen, well preserved, late 50’s, had been given a glass of biodynamic wine in Soho at the end of the evening a few nights before and, such was the strength of the experience, had managed to make his way to the talk. He was in no way connected with the wine industry, apparently.
To be honest, the language was rather florid and the assembled wine trade did, I am ashamed to say, start to titter somewhat. Myself included. However, he said something which I thought was beautifully profound and sums up why I believe that all of this (and the connection to life that, properly made, vital and nourishing food and wine bring), is one of the most essential building blocks of a civilized society:
“When I was drinking the wine, there was a sense that I had always craved that taste, I just didn’t know it.”
How many people are craving what I believe is a connection to something vital that goes far, far beyond a mere flavour?
Nicolas Joly nodded solemnly and replied: “Wine is an incarnation. You can’t put a finger or an analysis on it. When you re-discover what the earth can do when you respect it, you really see this. Let us open the drawer of this category of wine. These wines are tuned to you. They belong to the life forces to which we belong ourselves. "
Amen to that, Mon Joly. We spoke very briefly after the talk about the possibility of organising a one day seminar later in the year for those interested in all things Biodynamic. I am going to make it a bit of a personal mission of mine to get this off the ground, so please keep an eye on the blog and the web site if you think you may be interested.
For the uninitiated, Mon Joly is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of the modern biodynamic viticulture movement in
"It is like if I put plastic in your mouth and over your hands and then put good food in front of you.
"What do we do when we are in biodynamics? We are surrounded with two main forces. One main force is sun attraction. The other is gravity. Without this, there is no matter. Matter comes from gravity. Life and health and the good behaviour of a plant on earth are a balance between these forces.
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Amen to that, Mon Joly. We spoke very briefly after the talk about the possibility of organising a one day seminar later in the year for those interested in all things Biodynamic. I am going to make it a bit of a personal mission of mine to get this off the ground, so please keep an eye on the blog and the web site if you think you may be interested.
